I’m in my final year of college and I think I have a decent grasp of where my money is spent around my campus. I have slowly improved my ability to save money when spending my whole day on campus. With that being said it doesn’t mean that I don’t spend money foolishly around my college campus. Over the last month I have taken note on wallet busters around the college campus and have listed them below as a light Friday read for you guys:
The college bookstore. You have got to be kidding me? A book that was on sale for $175 at my college bookstore, I found online at textbooksw.com for $70 (not specifically endorsing this site or any other textbook broker, just a suggestion). The currency brought it up an extra few dollars and the shipping was free. Let’s assume I saved $95. That’s $95 going towards my next vacation. That $95 could also equal a few fun nights out in the city. Our that $95 can be reinvested into your education and can be put towards an evening course or continuing education course.
The fast food joints. Well as much as they bust your wallet I’m sure they aren’t helping your gut either. Obviously it’s unrealistic to bring food from home everyday because that’s just now how life works. We wake up late sometimes, our alarm clock doesn’t go off, were up all night finishing an assignment, and were often in a rush in general.
The college pub. Of course you can save money by drinking at the college pub as opposed to a fancy night club, BUT, the college pub becomes a wallet buster when you find yourself drinking 5 days a week there.
Credit card reps. Despite giving you such a great free t-shirt or backpack the credit card reps will bust your wallet in the long term. I am not against credit cards but I do not support giving people with a very low income and bad spending habits access to “plastic money.” Government legislation has helped change what credit card reps can and can not do, but they still can be a serious wallet buster for young uninformed college students.
Random vendors. You ever wonder what’s up with all of these random people selling stuff on campus? I don’t know about you guys but around my college campus there will be vendors sometimes. They sell the biggest junk. They would be better fit to work on a resort down south because they do a great job of selling random relics.
What are some other wallet busters around the college campus?
I remember the bookstore is such a rip off. Buy your books online after your first class. Sometimes you find out you don’t even need to book because the professor doesn’t use it.
I used to save money on food by asking my friends who had meal plans to feed me. At my school, students living in certain dorms were forced to buy meal plans. My friends who were girls couldn’t finish their meal plans, so hungry guys like me enjoyed the extras.
For me it seems like waiting until the first week of class and buying books online are an either/or proposition. If I wait and see exactly what I need I can’t order online because the time it takes to ship. Before the book gets to me there’s a good chance I would have needed it in class.
In the future I’m going to try and use the textbooks on reserve at the library to try and avoid this catch-22 situation.